In the prior art, there has been provided means for preventing the unauthorized use of appliances such as televisions, etc., and for a general appreciation of the state of the art in this area one is referred to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,524,029 and 4,063,110. In both of these patents, the structure utilized to accomplish the desired result of protecting against unauthorized use entails the provision of a lock box to or from which the appliance male plug extends. While such devices may be effective to achieve the end result desired, they are nevertheless large and often bulky, unsightly, and expensive.
Often such devices as referred to above are utilized in commercial installations as security devices. But beyond this, there is a need for such type devices even in the home. One example is where a parent wishes to be assured that his or her child does not watch television during certain periods when the parent is going to be absent from the home. In such cases, it is desirable for the parent to be able to effectively lock the television and accordingly prevent its usage for a period desired. This can be provided by a device such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,110. But the disadvantages of such are apparent inasmuch as the device is large and bulky, expensive, and would generally be required to be placed or stored behind the appliance where the same could not be easily seen.
Therefore, it is appreciated that there is a need for a relatively simple, small and inexpensive device that will effectively lock the selected appliance for a period of time and prevent the unauthorized use of such.